Pure Heart
by Tifa-Shan
Summary: A songfic based off of the song Pure Heart. Aeris's last moments with Cloud before she leaves on her last journey. A bit of a mix between sweet and sad. Please R/R.


Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything related, as well as the song Pure Heart. The only things I own are the fanfics I write. Thank you.  
  
I don't know if this is original or not, but I suddenly got the interest to do this. It's my first try at a songfic (songfic..right? I think that's what I'm looking for...) or whatnot. It might not be the best, but hey, I'll give it a try. Once again, reviews are very welcome and I thank everyone who reads it.  
  
~*Pure Heart*~  
  
"Straight on this long, continuing road there is surely something to believe in."  
  
The plains were cold and windy, lifeless and dull, yet anxiety filled the air. The day had started less than pleasant and Aeris knew that everyone had a bad feeling in their hearts. She feared maybe they knew, they had been acting paranoid around her these last minutes.  
  
Her and the others had just returned from the disastrous experience at the Temple of the Ancients. But it wasn't just her everyone feared for now, it was Cloud too. He's been acting odd lately, even she noticed. Of course she noticed. He wouldn't have attacked her normally, that wasn't Cloud. She wasn't mad at him, she couldn't be. It wasn't his fault, it was Sephiroth's. And she had to do something about him, even if it meant her life.  
  
Aeris, the sweet flower girl, looked over the plains from outside Gongaga, where Cloud lay inside the local inn recovering from that unexplainable incident. He had left the temple trembling, paler than normal, and though he tried to hide it, fear ate at him. Tifa urged him to 'be strong' but to no avail. They got him just barely to the closest inn where he passed out. Aeris was scared for him, with him, but it was now she had to be everyone's strength, whether they knew it or not.  
  
Her emerald eyes gazed to the northern skies as the chilling wind like a thousand sharp knives dug into her soft skin, brushing her flowing chestnut bangs across her light pink cheeks and carrying the longer braided portion of her hair behind her. Her dress waved around her lower bare legs, unbuttoned and free, as she blinked those jeweled eyes towards that forgotten city. Her heart beat in her chest strongly, as she knew what could await her there, but she had no choice. She turned to leave for the small village as her worn boots crunched the stiff blades of grass under her, her face formed into a determined expression reflecting the feelings within her still beating heart.  
  
"Like a traveler in the midst of the wind I have my eyes on the northern sky."  
  
Everyone was gone, it was just Cloud in the back of that tired inn. It was just the way she wanted her last moments to be with him. 'Last moments...' not her mind but her heart thought. It was depressive, but strangely sweet.  
  
Her warm eyes gazed over his sleeping form. His face was peaceful, his breathing slow and deep, he was okay. He was okay right now. Aeris just looked at him, and only now she realized she hadn't ever really noticed him while he was sleeping. He looked so different to her while asleep for reasons she couldn't place, but she managed to form a smile with her moist pink lips as she walked towards him, her steps echoing through the room like whispers. She lifted one of her hands to caress the soft spikes laying over his face, trailing her fingers downwards over those cold cheeks, his eyelids fluttering but never did he awake.  
  
Her heart beat all the faster, all the more passionate. Over the time their journey had taken place, her feelings had swayed, when they first met so new, so promising before and sometimes so faint. But now those feelings were stronger than ever, and this would be the last time she could ever feel them, the last time she could ever be so close to him, the last time she could touch him. Never before, surprisingly enough to her, had she ever felt so close and yet so distant, both extremities at once. Though she knew him and her were never actually in love, she cared for him deeply, though his feelings were always puzzling. But she didn't care now, she didn't care of the times he frustrated her or the times he disappointed her, all she cared about now were the good times, the times they were happy, the laughs they shared and their feelings for each other, however weak or strong they were, she knew something had to be there even if nothing more than friends.  
  
"The passionate feelings that were beginning to vanish once again sway in radiance in my chest"  
  
'Is this real?' Aeris questioned herself mentally. She wondered if this was a dream. but she knew no dream could be as real as this. "Cloud..." She spoke softly through her lips in that of an angel's whisper. "I have to leave you so soon...but the times we shared will always remain within my heart." The girl managed to smile strongly. She couldn't leave without a smile on her face, Aeris was strong and she would go out that way. Never would she want them to mourn her, but instead to be happy that they did meet while they could.  
  
Quite suddenly, a single crystal tear formed in one of her eyes, barely warm and shining, it somehow seeming to reflect ever bit of light in the room. Her feelings were mixed, her stomach like that of a twisted roller coaster. Her eyes narrowed a bit as the tear escaped flowing down her cheek leaving a wet trail behind it. She looked at Cloud with sweet regret. The tear then managed to fall to the bottom on her face, falling down upon Cloud's shirt, staining it only temporarily. "Don't worry..." She said to him, though her words were only heard to her own ears. "It'll be just like that. My death will be there...but it will fade...just like my tears."  
  
With that, her cheeks reddened slightly, more tears forming as she shook her head quickly. 'No, I can't cry. Everyone should be happy, and so will I..'  
  
"I know Cloud.." she continued to whisper under he breath, "that Tifa loves you too, but before I go...I love you." Aeris confessed, as she closed her eyes holding back the tears.  
  
"I don't want the tears to spill as so not to lose to my weaker self."  
  
She placed her right hand on his cheek lovingly, full of affection, wishing she could look into those Mako eyes once more but knew better than to wake him up. A smile formed on her weak lips, her face stiff before she entered and now softer than ever. 'He'd tell me not to go....that I'd be in danger...I can't let you be in danger....that's what he'd say...' she knew in her mind and in her heart. She removed her hand slowly from him, in the most loving though reluctant way, saying good-bye to this dearest ex- SOLDIER.  
  
"I'm leaving Cloud. I hope you miss me!" She giggled under her breath, shaking her head as that ponytail waved behind it. "But don't cry. You'll still have Tifa." Aeris smiled. "I know she'll be there for you, so I'm putting you in her hands now!"  
  
He still lay there resting, not moving once. He was peaceful, but she knew the moment he woke that would change. The light coming in through the window seemed to grow brighter, she felt the planet was watching now, waiting for her help, hurrying her on, almost as though saying with unheard words 'It's time, Aeris.'  
  
"I'm off to save the planet now. I'll visit you in your dreams when I get there."  
  
In the end, the fate of everyone lay in the hands of a mere flower girl with a spirit that was never crushed, no matter how dreary, she always had a light that would shine even in the darkest and fiercest of storms. An angel would lose her life tonight, but gain her wings.  
  
"In eyes holding only an unadorned spirit there are great, unseen wings."  
  
She left the inn at last, the only audible noise being the dull thud of her boots against the ground. The journey to the City of the Ancients, her last journey, her ultimate sacrifice. Aeris knew to make this her best, not to be down on her way, but to smile and be an optimist, a shining light like she always has been, for no matter the cost the life of the planet was worth anything. She would feel at last like she finally did something to live up to her Cetra name, leaving a mark for the rest of the planet's life, knowing even if no one else did that she alone with Holy saved this beautiful earth and once she was gone, her body would become a part of this after she died, her energy used to create more life to be passed down, seemingly never-ending.  
  
"I open my arms while singing to embrace the perpetuity of time to be tied to life."  
  
"All right then. For the sake of Cloud and the others, for those who died, for the Cetra, and lastly for the planet itself, I've got to go before it's too late. I don't know how long it will take, but I will get there before Sephiroth...I can't give up hope." The flower girl said as she walked across the cold plains, her stomach feeling a slight emptiness that battled with the happiness and hope within her. Her doubts were shaken off and replaced with that of hope and her determination was apparent as she set off. Elmyra always said that once she made up her mind, there was no changing it...  
  
"Straight on this long, continuing road there is surely something to believe in."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Thanks to everyone who read and please review. ^.^ I think it came out pretty nice, but I'd like to know what everyone thinks if I ever decide to make another songfic. Once again, please r/r and thanks to everyone for doing so. Tifa~Shan 


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